France says free of bird flu, wants bans dropped

PARIS, June 19 (Reuters) France said today it was officially free of bird flu and called on countries which still placed restrictions on importing its poultry to lift them.

In February France confirmed the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu at a farm, the first case of the virus in domestic farm birds in the 25-member European Union.

However, France said it had recovered its status of being bird-flu free as of June 18 since it had eliminated the source of the infection and not discovered any new cases of the virus for three months.

French Farm Minister Dominique Bussereau and Trade Minister Christine Lagarde ''ask the authorities of countries which have yet to lift embargoes on products made from poultry meat or living poultry to take into account France's new status'' of being free of bird flu, a statement said.

''They call on them to resume imports of these products in conformity with the international veterinary codes.'' REUTERS MP PM2348